A/N: Chapter One! Please don't start expecting frequent updates. I'm totally making this up as I go along, and that never bodes well. (The reason my other story is suffering is 'cause I don't have anything outlined past chapter ten... where I'm stuck.)

I feel I should warn you now: This will be mainly in the HP verse, 'cause I don't know enough about the Naruto verse to write a good fanfiction for that series.

Chapter One - Divergence

The next morning left Harry feeling exhausted, confused, and frustrated. The strange dreams had seemed to flit through his mind, leaving only vague, indecipherable impressions. The only thing he knew for sure was that, in some way, the dreams were connected to the image the Mirror had shown him, but he was at a loss to discover exactly how. He needed more information, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it for now except wait.

Wait for more dreams… and wait for another chance to view the Mirror.

Unfortunately, when he got to the room that night, the Mirror was gone.

Harry stared in almost-disbelief at the empty spot where the Mirror of Erised had been. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't think the dreams were going to go away; not when they seemed so magical in nature. In fact, he knew they weren't going to go away.

Sighing, he turned to leave when something on the floor caught his eye, exactly where the Mirror had once stood. Stooping, he picked up a slip of parchment.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

It was the same loopy handwriting as the one on the note left with his cloak. Clearly, they had been written by the same person. Equally clearly, they had both been written by Dumbledore. But… if Dumbledore had given him the cloak, why had he even had it in the first place?

He sighed again, supposing that it didn't matter for now. He was in no position to demand answers from the Headmaster in any case. Besides, he had more important things to be worrying about. Slightly disheartened, he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room and collapsed tiredly into bed.

The remainder of Christmas break passed quickly, and soon enough Hermione was back at the castle and demanding to learn what they had figured out about Nicolas Flamel. Which was exactly nothing.

"Forgot? What do you mean 'forgot?'"

Harry sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Hermione. I've been a bit distracted lately."

Ron shot him a glare from his bed. "Yeah, and kept everyone else awake while you were at it."

Hermione blinked. "Has something happened?"

"Harry's been having nightmares."

Harry scowled. "Have not. They're not nightmares. Just… unusual dreams."

"Yeah? Well, I'd hate to sleep anywhere near you when you have a real nightmare."

Hermione interrupted the escalating squabble. "What are they about?"

"Well," Harry replied hesitantly, "I don't exactly know." It wasn't really a lie. Apart from a few phrases and meaningless words, the only thing he could remember was the sight and sensation of red. And that could mean any number of things, especially since his emotions couldn't seem to stay consistent when confronted with the color. Love, hate, fear, grief, joy… it was never just one thing, and it was starting to carry over into his waking life, too. It made staying in Gryffindor tower absolute hell.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, indeed. 'Try telling me that after you've been having weird dreams for a week or two,' Harry thought in annoyance.

Ron grumbled, swiping Harry's last Chocolate Frog from its box. At Hermione's raised brow, he just muttered. "…owes me for keeping me up a week straight." She rolled her eyes.

"Ugh. Dumbledore, again," Ron groaned, tossing the card negligently to the floor. Harry froze before nearly diving at the card.

"Woah, mate. Didn't know you liked those that much."

Harry scowled up at him. "I don't! I knew I had read about Nicolas Flamel before…"

"That card's Dumbledore, Harry."

Harry ignored him, showing the card to Hermione. "See? Says here that Dumbledore worked on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel!" he exclaimed, shooting Ron a dirty look. Ron just shrugged, swallowing the last of the frog.

Before either of the boys could say anything, Hermione was running out of the room. Fortunately, her return was equally quick. She wasted no time in flipping through the pages of the book she had brought with her, explaining the discovery of the Sorcerer's Stone.

Something about it struck a chord in Harry and he frowned at Hermione's explanation of the Stone's powers.

"Blimey," Ron breathed. "Anyone would want that!"

Harry shook his head, an odd feeling of disgust causing his lip to curl in disdain. Immortality. Why did that word make him feel so… angry? A brief flash of yellow eyes crossed his vision. He blinked, and both the eyes and the feeling were gone.

Hermione was looking at him in concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing."

She didn't look like she believed him, but let the matter drop. Then she paused, as if something had just occurred to her. "Wait. Ron, is there a Chocolate Frog card about Nicolas Flamel? I can't imagine there not being one, not when he created the Sorcerer's Stone, of all things."

Ron blinked before flushing slightly. "Er… maybe?"

"RON!"

Harry clutched the snitch in his fist curiously, trying to recall the peculiar feeling of ecstasy and power he'd felt when chasing down the little streak of gold. It hadn't been the flight, he knew. Flying made him feel good; it made him feel weightless and free, but he'd never felt like… like a hunter when flying before. No, hunter wasn't the right word. Predator. He'd felt like a predator.

The cheers of his Housemates broke his train of thought, and he grinned when he heard Ron proudly proclaim that he'd decked Malfoy. Surprisingly enough, Hermione didn't appear at all upset that Ron had hurt another student, though Harry supposed that was just because she was glad that she didn't have to wipe him off the pitch.

Harry laughed, somehow managing to weasel his way through the crowd and to the locker rooms. He relished in the peace and quiet; the rest of the team was still outside cheering with everyone else… except perhaps, the Slytherins. The silence didn't last all that long however, as first Katie and then the twins slipped inside. (He'd been surprised that the twins hadn't spent more time milking the crowd for all it was worth, but then he'd heard them muttering about Firewhiskey and Hogsmeade and decided he didn't want to know.) The remaining members of the team slowly trickled inside, with Wood the last and looking extremely proud of himself.

He didn't end up leaving until some time later, after Wood's post-game discussion, where, despite his good mood, he insisted on finding every fault he could in their plays.

"It's all for the better! We want to win the Cup, don't we?"

Still, Quidditch Cup or not, it was pretty late when the team trooped inside, with Harry hanging back a bit. As tired as he was, he didn't want to drop off his prized Nimbus 2000 just yet. It was, after all, the second gift he had ever been given. He couldn't help but be attached to it.

Carefully locking the broomshed behind him, Harry turned to make his way to the castle when he caught sight of a dark figure making its way toward the Forbidden Forest. Snape. No one else that lived at Hogwarts quite had the prowling walk that one Severus Snape did.

What was he up to? Curious and definitely suspicious, Harry silently followed behind, adjusting his stride so that he could walk more quietly over the fallen leaves of the forest.

After a few minutes of trailing behind the potions professor, he caught sight of Quirrell. What was he doing out here, of all people?

The Defense Professor stuttered out a nervous greeting at Snape. The potions professor sneered at the man. "Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Harry froze, an icy feeling working its way up his gut. Did Snape know that he and his friends knew? If he did, how? If he didn't, then had another student figured it out? And if that was the case, then who else knew about the Stone that wasn't supposed to? He shook his head. Listen now, think later.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Quirrell. Unlike Dumbledore, I haven't been fooled by your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't –"

"Very well," Snape interrupted. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie." The entire discussion had been pretty ambiguous as to where Snape's loyalties lay, though. He whirled around, stalking in the general direction of the castle.

Harry watched him leave, waiting until the potions professor was long gone before starting to follow. Before he could take a step, he heard Quirrell hiss in frustration. Harry blinked. The sound had been totally unlike anything he had ever heard from his normally timid professor. A second voice had Harry whipping around, but he couldn't see anyone other than Quirrell.

"Fool! I will not have you spoil things for me now, not when I am so close! You are lucky that it was Snape that caught you. Next time it could be Dumbledore."

"I'm sorry, master," Quirrell stated, with no trace of his usual stutter, "it will not happen again."

"It had better not."

Harry took a step backward. A twig snapped.

Quirrell's wand was suddenly in his hand. "Who's there? Show yourself!" The other voice was silent.

Harry hardly dared to breathe as Quirrell, who suddenly seemed absurdly threatening, moved in his direction. Slowly, he lowered himself down and worked a stone out of the soil. Straightening himself up again, he threw the rock. It landed with a rustle against the leaves, and Quirrell whipped around to face the sound. Harry backed away silently, running once he felt he was far enough that Quirrell couldn't hear him.

He realized then, with startling clarity, that they now had bigger things to deal with than Snape.

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with your… you know," Ron said, eying Harry nervously.

"My what?" Harry asked, irritated.

"With… uh… those funny dreams you've been having."

"Excuse me?"

"We're not saying that we don't believe you, Harry" Hermione said carefully. "It's just… look at it from our point of view for a second. It's a bit difficult to think that Quirrell, of all people… and mysterious voices that come out of nowhere…"

"Hermione! I'm not going crazy! I know what I heard!"

"Well," Ron said with his usual tactlessness, "I dunno about that. Because I haven't slept a wink since you looked at that stupid Mirror."

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What? It's true!"

"Look," Hermione interjected, "we would just like a little proof, that's all."

"And what am I supposed to do? I can't just let you look into my mind, or anything," Harry snapped. Why didn't they believe him? He'd never lied to them, ever! He had no reason to.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, and Harry's eyes narrowed. "Fine," he interrupted before she could say anything. "You want proof? I'll give you bloody proof!"

With that, he stomped resolutely to the library, because there really was nothing else he could do.

Harry scowled at the Restricted Section. There were no books on mind magic in the general section of the library. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything else, short of a repeat incident, that would show Hermione and Ron that he'd been telling the truth.

He could always try sneaking in with the cloak again, he supposed, recalling the shrieking book with a wince. He really didn't think that he could get away with asking a teacher for a pass; not for something like this, anyway.

The sound of several books tumbling to the floor broke him out of his musings. "Hagrid?" It was a miracle he hadn't noticed the man earlier. He was far too unobservant; he'd have to work on that. "What are you doing here?"

Hagrid shuffled nervously, clutching a book so hard Harry was afraid it would break. "Oh, erm, nuthin' Harry, never you mind."

Harry shrugged, wandering over to his friend. This gave him an idea…

"Hagrid?" he asked. "Would you be willing to do me a favor?"

Hagrid blinked. "What do yeh need me ter do?"

"You have access to the Restricted Section, right?"

Hagrid looked at him suspiciously. "Well, yeah."

"Do you think you can get me a few books on mind magic? It's kind of important, only there aren't any in the general section and I'm a little worried about how Professor McGonagall would take it…" he trailed off, looking at the groundskeeper hopefully.

Hagrid frowned. "I don' think –"

"Please, Hagrid? I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think it was important."

"Oh, er, I suppose. Wait here fer a minute while I get yer books." He lumbered off to the Restricted Section.

Harry grinned in satisfaction, idly browsing the section Hagrid had been looking through. 'What's this? Dragons? Hagrid did say that he's always wanted one…'

He didn't have time to browse further as Hagrid returned with three old and heavy-looking books cradled in his arms. Hagrid dropped them into Harry's hands.

"Hagrid… what are you looking up dragons for?" he asked hesitantly. Hagrid had just done him a huge favor, after all, but he didn't want Hagrid getting into trouble over his idea of a pet…

Hagrid paled. "Never you mind," he muttered. Harry didn't have time to ask anything else before Hagrid hastily made his way out of the library.

Harry didn't like the sudden, awful feeling of foreboding.

Challenge! For anyone whose up to it, I'm going to be posting challenges down here for the next few chapters or so. All of them will be about Minato, not necessarily Harry Potter, and may or may not be crossovers.

Challenge #1

Summary: Namikaze Minato, newly christened Hokage of Konoha and soon-to-be father, is as certain as he can be of his future. But all that changes when a stranger calling himself only the Doctor appears... and gives him a pocket watch he'd lost as a child. Naruto x Doctor Who Crossover.

Rules: Has to be the Ninth or Tenth Doctor. It does not matter what time-frame, however. As we want this to be about Minato, his personality can't change radically from what it already is. (At least for now, as Time Lords are wierd like that.) One of the main considerations has to be about a shinobi's attitude toward life and death and the Doctor's relative pacifism. (i.e. shinobi will kill, the Doctor views this as failure.) That's it. Any pairing is acceptable.

Please let me know if you take up this challenge!